"it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it's still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be all right, because this World was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. When Walter Raleigh met Queen Elizabeth I, Raleigh is reputed to have thrown his coat over"
"Hodierna of St Albans Hodierna of St Albans (fl. 1150–1210) was the mother of Alexander Neckam and wet nurse of Richard I of England. Hodierna is also known as Audierne. According to legend, Richard I and Alexander Neckam were born on the same day. The astrological significance of these two births may be the reason Hodierna was chosen as wet nurse. The boys were breastfed together, although as heir to the throne Richard was given the right breast which was believed to produce richer milk. Wet nurse to the young princes was an honoured position and Hodierna was given a"
"The Lady of May The Lady of May is a one-act play by the English Renaissance poet Sir Philip Sidney. The play, which draws upon the literary tradition of pastoral, is notable for its allegorical content relating to Queen Elizabeth I, for whom the first production was performed at the Earl of Leicester's country estate at Wanstead. Queen Elizabeth was asked to mediate the outcome of the masque itself. A woman approaches the queen whilst walking in Wanstead Garden as a supplicant, saying that her daughter - the Lady of May - has two suitors, and that she would like"
"the masque was organized for Lord Hay by Jonson's patron Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford. As the subtitle of the work indicates, Jonson set his masque on the shores of the river Lethe in the undeworld of ancient Greek mythology. As the masque begins, Charon the ferryman has just dropped off a group of human figures, ""imagined ghosts,"" to be received by Mercury. The Fates, however, complain that these people are not actually dead; they have been deluded through the influence of Cupid to think that they have ""drown'd in Love."" By drinking the waters of Lethe, the deluded lovers"
"one of the masques that might have been performed for the pleasure of Queen Elizabeth on her visit to Robert Dudley at Kenilworth Castle in 1575. Dudley entertained the Queen for two weeks with pageants and banquets that cost some £1000 per day, presenting diversions and pageants surpassing anything ever before seen in England. The text of ""Kenilworth"" consists of descriptions of various mythical entities, creatures and people joyfully praising Elizabeth, singing and dancing to her after her arrival in Kenilworth on a summer's night. These include the Lady of the Lake, who rises from the water to greet her,"
"a leek “for I am Welsh, you know, good countryman.” The 1985 and 1990 British one pound coins bear the design of a leek in a coronet, representing Wales. Alongside the other national floral emblems of countries currently and formerly in the Commonwealth or part of the United Kingdom (including the English Tudor Rose, Scottish thistle, Irish shamrock, Canadian maple leaf, and Indian lotus), the Welsh leek appeared on the coronation gown of Elizabeth II. It was designed by Norman Hartnell; when Hartnell asked if he could exchange the leek for the more aesthetically pleasing Welsh daffodil, he was told"
"cloak. ""Were I a rich man"", says he, ""I would bear my house about with me"". It appears that people depended on cloaks, not umbrellas, for protection against storms. One of the earliest depictions is in a painting by Girolamo dai Libri from 1530 titled Madonna dell Ombrello (Madonna of the Umbrella) in which the Virgin Mary is sheltered by a cherub carrying a large, red umbrella. Thomas Wright, in his ""Domestic Manners of the English"", gives a drawing from the Harleian MS., No. 604, which represents an Anglo-Saxon gentleman walking out attended by his servant, the servant carrying an"
"I heard them say, ""It's the royal Duke of Grantham, That the tide has washed away."" They took him up to Portsmouth, To a place where was known, From there up to London, To the place where he was born. They took out his bowels, And stretched out his feet, And they balmed his body, With roses so sweet. Six dukes stood before him, Twelve raised him from the ground, Nine lords followed after him, In their black mourning gown. Black was their mourning, And white were the wands, And so yellow were the flamboys, That they carried in their"
"of land that yielded an annual income of £1,000. The peak of Haddington's influence may have occurred at his marriage to Lady Elizabeth Radclyffe, daughter of the Earl of Sussex, on 9 February 1608; James himself gave away the bride at the wedding. The marriage was celebrated at Whitehall Palace with the masque ""The Hue and Cry After Cupid"", by Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones. At the time, James paid off Haddington's debts of £10,000, and sent the bride a gold cup containing a grant of lands worth an income of £600 per year. Later, Haddington was supplanted as James's"
"Thomas Underhill Thomas Underhill (1545–1591) served as Keeper of the Wardrobe of Kenilworth Castle and had charge of its contents after the castle was given by Queen Elizabeth I to her favourite Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester in 1563. Thomas Underhill was born the son of Sir Hugh Underhill and one of Thomas Maynman's daughters in 1545 at Greenwich, London, England. Maynman served as Keeper of the Wardrobe at East Greenwich. Underhill would not only marry his daughter and have Thomas Underhill as a son, but he would go on to replace Maynman as Keeper of the Wardrobe in"
"1563. Appointed by Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, Thomas Underhill assumed responsibility as Keeper of the Wardrobe at Kenilworth Castle. Kenilworth was given by Queen Elizabeth to her favourite Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester. The fact that Thomas Underhill, son of a well-regarded member of her household was sent, shows the affection Queen Elizabeth I had both for Dudley and Underhill. During his time at Kenilworth, Thomas Underhill would witness transformation of the castle by making the north entrance the main entrance to suit the tastes of Elizabeth, and adding the Leicester building, a large apartment, and a residential"
"and pacification, because Charles I had just ended his eleven-year period of personal rule and called for a new session of Parliament. In an effort to create an amicable atmosphere for the coming Parliamentary session, several leading aristocratic members of the Parliamentary party were cast in the masque, including Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford, and Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke. (This effort at political theatre quickly proved useless: the Parliament that followed was the famous Short Parliament.) The masque was unique in that both Charles I and his queen, Henrietta Maria, performed in it; the Queen's mother, Marie"
"in the tomb of the Merovingian king Childeric I (died 481; all but two bees have since been stolen and lost), which are thought to have been sewn onto his cloak. Metalwork accessories were the clearest indicator of high-ranking persons. In Anglo-Saxon England, and probably most of Europe, only free people could carry a seax or knife, and both sexes normally wore one at the waist, to use for all purposes. Both men's and women's clothing was trimmed with bands of decoration, variously embroidery, tablet-woven bands, or colourful borders woven into the fabric in the loom. The famous Anglo-Saxon opus"
"clothes, and the Whitgreave family's priest, Father John Huddleston, bathed the King's bruised and bleeding feet. Deeply touched, Charles told Huddleston, ""If it please God I come to my crown, both you and all your persuasion shall have as much liberty as any of my subjects"". Charles spent the night and the next two days hiding at Moseley Hall, sleeping in a bed for the first time since 3 September. Later that morning he saw some of his fleeing Scottish troops passing by. That afternoon, Parliamentary troops arrived at Moseley Hall, and Charles was hurriedly hidden in the Moseley priest-hole,"
"The Masque of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn The Masque of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn is an English masque created in the Jacobean period. It was written by Francis Beaumont and is known to have been performed on 20 February 1613 in the Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace, as part of the elaborate wedding festivities surrounding the marriage of Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of King James I, to Frederick V, Elector Palatine. The masque was preceded by a procession, in which the masquers came down the River Thames from Winchester House on the royal barge, accompanied by"
"were minor; Elizabeth I made the sign of the cross above the infected person's head, while her squeamish successor, James I (r. 1603–1625), made stroking motions above the abscesses instead of actually touching them. The ritual was normally performed between Michaelmas and Easter, when cold weather made it less likely to contract a disease from the infected subject. It was believed that the treatment was more likely to be successful if performed on a holy day. English monarchs generally touched less frequently than their French counterparts. Edward I touched up to 1,736 people annually, but did not touch during his"
"the masque was to influence his father, King James I, to move away from his pacifistic foreign policy. In 1620, the Thirty Years' War was in its first phase; James daughter and Charles's sister Princess Elizabeth and her husband Frederick V, Elector Palatine had inadvertently started the war when they accepted the crown of Bohemia in 1618. Despite his strong familial connection, James was unwilling to take an active part in the Protestant cause, much to the distress of many of his subjects. The masque had no discernible success in swaying James's position. The masque features the mythological divinities and"
"wares to passers-by, and courtiers used it to air their laundry. Pepys recorded his titillation at the sight of the underwear of Charles II's mistress, Lady Castlemaine, hanging out to dry in the Privy Garden. A century later, James Boswell wrote in his diary that he had taken a prostitute into the garden and ""indulged sensuality"", but he was shocked to find when he got home that she had stolen his handkerchief. For a time, each of the grass squares in the garden had a statue in its centre, standing on its own pedestal. They were probably moved there from"
"give the story more than one image. The depiction in the 12th-century English Eadwine Psalter has a naked female swimmer in the water, holding the empty ark with one hand, while a clothed female with her feet in the water holds out the baby to the princess, who reclines on a bed or litter. This is part of some 11 scenes of the life of Moses. This may relate to the Jewish visual traditions covered below. The artist of a French Romanesque capital has enjoyed himself showing the infant Moses threatened by crocodiles and perhaps hippos, as often shown in"
"George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland Sir George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, 13th Baron de Clifford, 13th Lord of Skipton, KG (8 August 155830 October 1605), was an English peer, naval commander, and courtier of Queen Elizabeth I of England. He was notable at court for his jousting, at the Accession Day Tilts, which were highlights of the year at court. Two famous survivals, his portrait miniature by Nicholas Hilliard (c. 1590, now National Maritime Museum) and a garniture of Greenwich armour (now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art), reflect this important part of his life. In contrast, he"
"Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the Queen's hand for many years. Dudley's youth was overshadowed by the downfall of his family in 1553 after his father, the Duke of Northumberland, had failed to prevent the accession of Mary I. Robert Dudley was condemned to death but was released in 1554 and took part in the Battle of St. Quentin under Mary's husband and co-ruler, Philip,"
"The Masque at Kenilworth Kenilworth, A Masque of the Days of Queen Elizabeth (commonly referred to as ""The Masque at Kenilworth""), is a cantata with music by Arthur Sullivan and words by Henry Fothergill Chorley (with an extended Shakespeare quotation) that premiered at the Birmingham Festival on 8 September 1864. In 1575, Queen Elizabeth visited Robert Dudley at Kenilworth Castle, where he presented her with lavish entertainments over a period of 19 days in an attempt to persuade her to marry him. This piece attempts to recreate the sort of masque that might have been performed for the queen's pleasure."
"he was ""swapping a stony couch for a deep feather bed"". At Cecil's house, Theobalds in Hertfordshire, James was so in awe that he bought it there and then, arriving in the capital on 7 May, nine days after Elizabeth's funeral. His new subjects flocked to see him, relieved that the succession had triggered neither unrest nor invasion. On arrival at London, he was mobbed by a crowd of spectators. His English coronation took place on 25 July, with elaborate allegories provided by dramatic poets such as Thomas Dekker and Ben Jonson. An outbreak of plague restricted festivities, but ""the"
"legend, which in its main feature may be accepted, Hewett's infant daughter was dropped by a careless nurse from an apartment on London Bridge into the current below. Young Osborne immediately leaped into the river and saved the child. The date of this event must have been about 1545, as the lady, who became Osborne's wife, was twenty-three years old at the time of her father's death in January 1566-7. Pictoral representations of Osborne's feat are preserved at Clothworker's Hall and at Hornby Castle, Yorkshire, the seat of the Duke of Leeds. In his early days Osborne travelled, and probably"
"an official, usually the Lord High Almoner, to make the distributions and perform the ""pedilavium"". Even though scented water was used to disguise any unpleasant odours from the poor, the feet were washed three times before the monarch performed the ""pedilavium"", once by a menial and twice by Court officials. In later years, sweet-smelling nosegays were used to disguise odours—the nosegays are still carried today. Charles I rarely attended the Royal Maundy service. Author Brian Robinson, who traced the development of Royal Maundy, suggests that after the Restoration, his son Charles II attempted to gain popularity by assiduous attendance (and"
"Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby. The plan was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605, as the prelude to a popular revolt in the Midlands during which James's nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, was to be installed as the Catholic head of state. Catesby may have embarked on the scheme after hopes of securing greater religious tolerance"
"having the Cloth framed and displayed so the parishioners could see it. Lionel Cust knew and agreed with these views, publishing them in 1918. He noted a similarity with dress designs shown in the rainbow portrait of Elizabeth I, and theorized it was a gift from the queen to Parry, who had subsequently donated it to her parish church. It is now considered to have been sent to Bacton Church, perhaps by Queen Elizabeth herself, or at her death, to commemorate Blanche Parry. The cloth has recently been identified as of late sixteenth-century origin, and while there is no documentary"
"Queen Gwendolen Queen Gwendolen, also known as ""Gwendolin"", or ""Gwendolyn"" (Latin: Guendoloēna) was a legendary ruler of ancient Britain. She is said to have been queen during the 11th century BC. As told by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his pseudohistorical account ""Historia Regum Britanniae"", she was the repudiated queen of King Locrinus until she defeated her husband in battle at the River Stour. This river was the dividing line between Cornwall and Loegria, two key locations in ancient Britain. After defeating the king, she took on the leadership of the Britons, becoming their first queen regnant. According to Geoffrey of"
"in the British Museum, which, typically, was given by James I (more generous in this respect than Elizabeth) to a courtier, Thomas Lyte, in 1610. The ""Armada Jewel"", given by Elizabeth to Sir Thomas Heneage and the ""Drake Pendant"" given to Sir Francis Drake are the best known examples. As part of the cult of the Virgin Queen, courtiers were rather expected to wear the Queen's likeness, at least at Court. Elizabeth had her own collection of miniatures, kept locked in a cabinet in her bedroom, wrapped in paper and labelled, with the one labelled ""My Lord's picture"" containing a"
"itself derive from an instruction, or ""mandatum"", of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper that his followers should love one another. In the Middle Ages, English monarchs washed the feet of beggars in imitation of Jesus, and presented gifts and money to the poor. Over time, additional money was substituted for the clothing and other items that had once been distributed. Beginning in 1699 the monarch did not attend the service, sending an official in his place. The custom of washing the feet did not survive the 18th century. In 1931 Princess Marie Louise was at Royal Maundy, and afterwards"
"washes – areas of land allowed to flood in periods of bad weather to absorb the extra water that cannot drain to the sea – and a catchdrain around the eastern edge of the fen. The washes were constructed as part of the second phase of drainage in the 1650s, but the catchdrain was not developed until the early 1960s. Charles I appointed Vermuyden as his agent for the draining on 19 September 1639, but his government did not approve the plan until 5 August. In a precarious position with all three of its kingdoms, the Crown lacked both sufficient"
"the parish priest at Rudry, a practice which would continue until 1920. There exists a long-standing local myth that Oliver Cromwell sought refuge in St James's during the English Civil War. Hard evidence for this is lacking, though it is known that King Charles I spent time at nearby Ruperra Castle. In the late 18th Century, the officiant at St James's was Father William Price, an eccentric priest who was known for his habit of swimming naked in local ponds. His son was William Price, the archdruid and pioneer of cremation, who was baptised in St James's in 1800. The"
"It may have been linked to the leek; as the Welsh for daffodil (""cenhinen Bedr"") translates as ""St Peter's Leek"". During the 20th century, the daffodil rose to rival the prominence of the leek as a symbol of Wales. Prime Minister David Lloyd George ensured that the daffodil had a place in the investiture of Edward, Prince of Wales. The traditional Welsh costume and Welsh hat were well known during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Princess Alexandrina Victoria (later Queen Victoria) had a hat made for her when she visited Wales in 1832. The hat was popularised by Sydney"